Developing a clinical question

Activity Objectives:

1. apply the PICO -TT framework to any situation you see in your
practice ( clinical work, public health work)

2. Transform everything you see and hear into an answerable

question.

Even the most apparently "trivial" daily work situations or dialogues

can be rich in information. There is an interesting question hiding in
everything. Transform it into a well built clinical question, that can be
searched . If there are no exiting answers to your question, then you
will have to do a study to answer it yourself.
 Clinical Scenario #1

• On morning rounds in the Hem/Onc unit, a first year

resident turns to you for consultation. She wants to
discuss options for managing moderate nausea and
vomiting that result following chemotherapy. She shares
an experience a relative had taking ginger when
prochlorperazine didn’t provide effective relief and asks
for your input.

• What is your clinical question in PICO format?

• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type
of clinical question?

Clinical Scenario #2
• Traditionally, clinicians have used a conservative approach
to the diagnostic evaluation of head-injured infants, arguing
that infants are at increased risk of intracranial injury (ICI)
and that symptoms or signs of brain injury may not be
reliably present in those with ICI. A number of previous
studies have reported that a significant fraction of ICIs in
infants occur in patients with a normal neurological status
and with no signs or symptoms of brain injury. You want to
see how well clinical features predict ICI in infants.

• What is your clinical question in PICO format?

• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type of
clinical
• question?
• Adapted from: Greenes D, Schutzman S. Clinical Indicators of Intracranial Injury in Head-injured Infants. Pediatrics 1999;
104 (4): 861-867.
 Clinical Scenario #3
• A 2-year-old patient presents with a 12-month history of
recurrent wheezing, cough, dyspnea, and mucopurulent
nasal discharge. There are no smokers in the household,
and all pets have been removed. Antibiotics and
antihistamines have been tried without sustained benefit.
Physical examination demonstrates normal growth and
normal vital signs. Thick yellow nasal discharge is noted,
and bilateral expiratory wheezes are heard on chest
auscultation. This scenario raises multiple questions,
and the focus here will be: When is antibiotic therapy
indicated?

• What is your clinical question in PICO format?

• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type of
clinical
• question?
• Adapted from: http://pedsinreview.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/24/8/265.pdf

Clinical Scenario #4

• The traditional view of withholding feeds in VLBW infants

has recently been challenged. Provision of trophic feeds
has been found to result in faster maturation of the gut,
making it much more receptive for subsequent enteral
feeds. You’ve been asked to find the evidence on
whether feeds should be administered fast or slow to this
vulnerable population.

• What is your clinical question in PICO format?

• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type of
clinical question?
 Clinical Scenario #5

• Working on the Developmental Assessment Team for

school-aged children of mothers who used cocaine
during their pregnancy, you are interested in learning the
developmental outcomes for these children as they
begin school compared to children not exposed
tococaine during pregnancy.

• What is your clinical question in PICO format?

• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type
• of clinical question?

Clinical Scenario #6

• Forced use, or constraint-induced movement therapy

(CIMT) has shown some efficacy in the rehabilitation of
adults with chronic hemiparesis as a result of stroke. You
are asked to provide a Lunch and Learn for your department
on the use of CIMT versus conventional
PT/OT therapy to improve outcomes for the
management of hemiparesis associated with cerebral
palsy in pediatric patients.
• What is your clinical question in PICO format?
• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type
• of clinical question?
 Clinical Scenario #7
• Your uncle is a 59 yrs old man , slightly overweight,
smokes ~10 cig/day otherwise healthy. Currently
traveling for work in Italy. He has started to cough a
few days ago. He was told he sounds like having
bronchitis. He is calling you to advice him whether
he should take some antibiotics, the sputum really
bothers him and he is afraid he might have to take
days off.
•
• What is your clinical question in PICO format?
• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type
• of clinical question?

Clinical Scenario #8
• You are visiting the Cath Lab, your friend works there. She
is wearing her iPod listening some music and she seems
quite in a good mood. You noticed that the patient’s family
members are looking very scared and nervous. This
contrast makes you say:” hey, why don’t you put your music
on speakers for the family members in the waiting room?”
She says: “oh, that’s so silly”. Just to contradict her, you
are determined now to figure whether tranquil music will
make the family feel better. Somebody should have
published something on this.

• What is your clinical question in PICO format?

• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type
• of clinical question?
 Clinical Scenario #9

• 56 year old African-American veteran is noted to be

delirious and agitated post-operatively after hernia
repair. He has no hx of alcohol abuse/dependence and
is otherwise healthy. The attending physician
recommends using haloperidol to manage the agitation;
a visiting consultant recommends lorazepam. You just
enjoy their quarrel and wonder who might be right.

• What is your clinical question in PICO format?

• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type
• of clinical question?

Clinical Scenario #10

• 2 yr boy, Jimmy C., Previously healthy, URTI symptoms

with fever, Temp: 38.5 C (101.3F); Given Paracetamol
• Tepid sponged by mum: some shivering noted
• Doctor asked mum to stop sponging as Paracetamol is
enough for fever.
• You have your own ideas on this and some experience
but you are not quite sure how to discuss this with the
MD. You need some solid evidence.
• What is your clinical question in PICO format?
• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type
• of clinical question?
 Clinical Scenario #1
Answerable Clinical Question
• Type of Question: Therapy/Treatment
• Type of Study/Methodology: Double-Blind
Randomized Controlled Trial; Systematic
Review/Meta Analysis of RCT
• PICO:
• P – In patients receiving chemotherapy who are
experiencing moderate nausea and vomiting
• I – is the use of ginger
• C – as effective as prochlorperazine
• O – in reducing nausea and vomiting?

Clinical Scenario #2
Answerable Clinical Question
• PICO:
• P – Among children with minor head injury
• I – does the use of CT scan
• C – versus other clinical findings
• O – affect identification and diagnosis of
intracranial hemorrhage?
• Type of Question: Diagnosis
• Type of Study/Methodology: Controlled
Studies; Systematic Review/Meta Analysis of
Controlled Studies
 Clinical Scenario #3
Answerable Clinical Question
• Type of Question: Prognosis
• Type of Study/Methodology: Cohort Studies
• PICO:
• • P – Among toddlers with recurrent nasal
discharge
• • I – does the use of antibiotics
• •C–
• • O – affect the probability of recurrence?

Clinical Scenario #4
Answerable Clinical Question
• Type of Question: Therapy/Treatment
• Type of Study/Methodology: Systematic
Review/Meta Analysis of Double-Blind
Randomized Controlled Trials
• PICO:
• P – Among very low birth weight infants,
• I – are slow enteral feeds
• C – vs. fast enteral feeds
• O – better tolerated
 Clinical Scenario #5
Answerable Clinical Question
• PICO
• P – (controlling for ‘nuisance‘ factors) Do
otherwise healthy children
• I – exposed in utero to cocaine,
• C – compared to children not exposed to
cocaine
• O – have increased incidence of learning
disabilities at the age of six years?
• Type of Question: Harm/Etiology
• Type of Study/Methodology: Cohort Studies

Clinical Scenario #6
Answerable Clinical Question
• Type of Question: Therapy/Treatment
• Type of Study/Methodology: Double-Blind
Randomized Controlled Trial
• PICO:
• P – Among children receiving PT/OT for the
management of hemiparesis associated with
cerebral palsy
• I – does constraint induced therapy
• C – compared to conventional PT/OT therapy
• O – improve outcomes (motor skills / function)?
 Clinical Scenario #8
• You are visiting the Cath Lab, your friend works there. She
is wearing her iPod listening some music and she seems
quite in a good mood. You noticed that the patient’s family
members are looking very scared and nervous. This
contrast makes you say:” hey, why don’t you put your music
on speakers for the family members in the waiting room?”
She says: “oh, that’s so silly”. Just to contradict her, you
are determined now to figure whether tranquil music will
make the family feel better. Somebody should have
published something on this.

• What is your clinical question in PICO format?

• What type of clinical question is this?
• What is the best study design to answer this type
• of clinical question?

Clinical Scenario #7
Answerable Clinical Question
• Type of Question: Therapy/Treatment
• Type of Study/Methodology: Double-
Blind Randomized Controlled Trial
• PICO:
• In patients with acute bronchitis, do
antibiotics( vs. none) reduce sputum
production, cough or days off?
 Clinical Scenario #9
Answerable Clinical Question
• Type of Question: Therapy/Treatment
• Type of Study/Methodology: Double-
Blind Randomized Controlled Trial
• PICO:
• In a 56 year old man with post-op delirium
and agitation, does treatment with
haloperidol vs. lorazepam result in greater
improvement in agitation?

Clinical Scenario #10

Answerable Clinical Question

• Type of Question: Therapy/Treatment

• Type of Study/Methodology: Double-
Blind Randomized Controlled Trial
• PICO:
• What is the efficacy of tepid sponging
versus paracetamol in reducing
temperature in febrile children.